Sports & Entertainment

Sports:

• FIFA announced on Friday that it will drop its plan to sell shares of the World Cup to private investors, after three days of condemnation from the international soccer community, its senior advisor's resignation, and a planned boycott by the European football federation. UEFA not backing down as FIFA moonwalks World Cup investment plan
• A group of 53 college basketball players told a North Carolina state court on Friday that their careers will be unjustly ended if enforcement of NCAA rules excluding them from the new five-year eligibility window is not halted. NCAA college athlete eligibility lawsuit filed in Guilford County - Yahoo Sports
• The NCAA is appealing a closely watched decision in Colorado federal court giving an extra year of college sports eligibility to athletes who graduated from high school in 2022, intensifying focus on the organization's rulemaking aimed at mollifying legal challenges. NCAA plans to appeal federal judge's injunction granting fifth year of eligibility to Class of 2022 student-athletes - Yahoo Sports
• A proposed class of college football strength and conditioning coaches has accused the NCAA of artificially capping the number of such coaches for each Division I school in violation of federal antitrust law, according to a suit in California federal court. Strength coach sues NCAA over cap on football staff

Entertainment:

FILM & TELEVISION

• The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, founder of the prestigious Golden Globe Awards, filed an antitrust lawsuit against Penske Media Corp. alleging a scheme to fraudulently acquire the 80-plus-year-old annual ceremony and “destroy” its former owner. Penske Media Sued by Hollywood Foreign Press Over Golden Globes Buy
• Disney and director James Cameron have asked a CA federal court to dismiss a lawsuit from Indigenous actor Q'orianka Kilcher, who accused them of misusing ​her likeness to create the protagonist Neytiri from the hit "Avatar" movies. Disney asks court to dismiss actor's lawsuit over 'Avatar' character | Reuters Meanwhile, a CA federal judge tossed an author's suit accusing Disney, Cameron, and Cameron's production company of ripping off the author's work to create "Avatar" movie sequels, saying any substantial similarities between the works should be better fleshed out should the writer amend his complaint again. Disney, Cameron Get 'Avatar' Sequels IP Suit Nixed, For Now - Law360
• The producer behind an unreleased World War II spy movie starring Nicolas Cage has sued Netflix for $105 million in CA federal court alleging a copy of the film was stolen from Netflix's Hollywood office, while Netflix accused the law firm representing the movie's producer of trying to "extort" $165 million. Netflix Sued After Unreleased Nicolas Cage Movie Was Stolen
• Walt Disney Co. said more than 150,000 comments have been submitted by the public, mostly expressing support for the company to keep its eight ABC TV station licenses, in the face of an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission. ABC Asks FCC to Reject Petitions to Deny TV License Renewals

LAWSUITS OF THE RICH & FAMOUS

• Ariana Grande filed a privacy invasion suit in CA state court alleging unknown hackers have been stealing and leaking her unreleased masters and demos, behind-the-scene photos, and other content after gaining backdoor access to accounts belonging to people she worked with over the years. Ariana Grande is suing the hackers who’ve been leaking her songs and videos for years | The Verge
• Justin Baldoni's production company must pay The New York Times more than $170,000 after it defeated the studio's defamation claims, a NY state judge has ruled, saying the newspaper is entitled to recoup its legal fees. Justin Baldoni’s company must pay the New York Times’ legal fees
• Film producer Jason cloth has been charged with seven counts of wire fraud in IL federal court, with prosecutors claiming in an indictment that he bilked more than $100 million from investors in a Ponzi scheme. Hollywood producer charged with seven counts of wire fraud in $100m scheme | US crime | The Guardian

SOCIAL MEDIA

• A Manhattan federal judge largely declined to dismiss Reddit's suit accusing SerpApi of illegally scraping its content to be sold to Perplexity for training its artificial intelligence models. Reddit keeps its strange DMCA fight over Google search results alive - Ars Technica
• Parents of four children who died by suicide after heavy use of social media platforms are suing Meta, Google, TikTok and others in DE state court alleging that they pushed features that promoted self-harm and stole their loved ones' childhoods. Meta, TikTok, Snap And Google Face Wrongful Death Lawsuit From Four US Families